Heel-nailing machine.



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Patented May 1?, 1910.

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' Patented May 17, 1910.

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UNITED STATES PATE T ERASTUS WOODWARD, OF SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS,ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THOMAS G. PLANT, OF BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS.

HEEL-NAILING MACHINE.

Application filed. April 5, 1906, Serial No. 310,007.

- To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERASTUS WOODWARD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Somerville, in the county of MiddleseX, State ofMassachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Heel-Nailing Machines, ofwhich the following description, in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representinglike parts.

This invention relates to machines for nailing the heels of boots andshoes and the invention relates more particularly to means for supplyingnails to the nail driving means. Prior to my invention it has beencustomary in machines of this type to employ nail supplying means,taking the nails from a hopper where they are contained in bulk andsorting, arranging and feeding the same by suitable mechanism to thenail carrying and driving means. Mechanism for this purpose obviouslymust be complicated and delicate and must and does require constantattention and care; in fact, experience has shown that no part of themachine is so frequently out of order and requires so much carefuladjustment and oversight as the mechanism for supplying the nails. Inview of the above the fewer loading mechanisms employed and the moreconcentrated they be, the better, and my invent-ion contemplatesremoving the nail loading mechanisms of prevailing type from the heelnailing machines themselves, and concen trating them, for example, inthe basement of a factory and there loading the raceways for all nailingmachines in the factory, these loaded raceways to be taken to themachines as required, so that the operatives at the machines will neversuffer any interruptions in their work, such as are now frequent becauseof difficulty with the complicated and delicate loading mechanisms.

My invention will be best understood from a description of oneembodiment thereof shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein,

Figure 1, in side elevation, shows a sufficient portion of a typicalheel nailing machine equipped with a device illustrating my invention toenable the same to be understood; Fig. 2 is a detail in side elevationof a preferred form of removable raceway; Fig. 3, a top or plan view ofFig. 2; Fig. 4, an enlarged detail in side elevation showingSpecification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 17, 1910.

Renewed November 22, 1909. Serial No. 529,296.

the attaching end of the raceway; Fig. 5, a left-hand view of Fig 4;Fig. 6, a top or plan view of Figs. 4: and 5; Fig. 7 a transversesection on the dotted line 77, Fig. 4; Fig. 8, a detail showing in sideelevation the attaching means for the raceway; and, Fig. 9, a plan viewand partial section of the parts shown in Fig. 8.

In the embodiment of my invention selected for the present illustrationand shown in the drawings, referring first to Fig. 1, the nailingmachine employed may be of any suitable or desired type or construction,I having herein shown a part of the frame A and the driving head B of aNational type of machine heretofore well-known in the art. The head Bcarries usual drivers 7), adapted to drive the nails through and outfrom a usual nail block 5 into a heel mounted upon a jack positionedbelow the nail block and indicated by dotted lines, Fig. 1. Rearwardlyextended from the frame A is a bracket support A, upon which is mounteda cradle c, constructed at its front end to constitute bearings for acylindrical or other feed barrel d, adapted to be rotated step by stepand receive singly at each step movement a nail from the raceway to bedescribed. hen this feeding barrel is loaded its nails are deposited inany suitable manner through the tubes of the distributer c, to a nailcarrier 7, pivotally supported upon an arm f and adapted to be swung toconvey the nails received from the distributer into position over andfor depositing them in the holes therefor in the nail block. All thismechanism may be of desired type or construction, the illustrationthereof merely typifying the same.

The cradle has secured to its rear side a forwardly inclined arm orbracket 0, carrying two separated forks or yokes c in the bottoms ofwhich are preferably mounted rollers 0 These yokes constitute hearingsto receive and support a raceway I-I, adapted to be brought to themachine and to be filled to desired extent with nails to be used in thenailing of any particular lot of shoes. This raceway (see Fig. 2 etseq.) for lightness, is preferably built up from sheet metal shaped topresent two sides h, h, spaced at intervals along their lower edges bythimbles 71,, through which pass rivets or the connections 7L2, thespaces between the said thimbles being left open; and also, the

side walls are provided with openings it all for lightness,accessibility and escape of dust and dirt. Secured at intervals alongthe upper inturned edges of the raceway sides are clips or cars M. Theseclips are likewise properly spaced across the raceway by interposedthimbles 71, (see Fi 7), between which at one of their ends and theadjacent clips is secured the upturned flange of a raceway cover if. Atits upper end said raceway is preferably left open, although, ifdesired, a suitable spring actuated gate it may be used, which willmaintain said end normally closed to escape of the nails, but which, byreason of the beveled end thereof, will readily move aside when theraceway is presented to a suitable loader for renewing the nail supplyin the raceway. At its lower end said raceway is provided as shown, atits opposite side, with two supporting plates on, notched to provideshoulders at, adapted to rest against a supporting wall m on the cradle0, and also with a horizontal supporting wall at, to rest upon acorrespondingly positioned wall of said cradle, the body of the racewaybeing received in the yoke supports 0 of the cradle arm, where it restsupon the rollers c, therein referred to.

Closing the lower end of the raceway is a yielding gate or stop 0,preferably a spring wire, such that it will retard the heads of nailsgravitating downward in said raceway, thereby to cause the lower orpoint end of the endinost nail to swing forward away from the body ofnails behind and above it to enable it to be more readily picked off anddelivered to the feeding barrel. For the best results the lower end ofsaid raceway should be curved somewhat, to facilitate the delivering ordischarge of nails from th raceway to the feeding barrel.

In practice, the loaded raceways will be brought in desired number to aheel nailing machine, and the operative or his assistant will take araceway containing the desired length or size of nails, and will drop itin the yoke supports 0 upon the rollers at the bottoms thereof, on whichsaid raceway will gravitate downward and forward into a firm seat at itsdelivery end, in the cradle, as described. The arm 0 between the saidyoke support 0 is off-set sufliciently to enable one or both theoperatives hands to pass up to the support of the raceway while droppingit in position, as stated. A locking latch pin 7) (see Fig. 9),controlled by a spring 7), in the cradle, serves to lock the raceway inits operative position as soon as it has gravitated thereto. This pinmay be disengaged readily for removal of the raceway when necessary, butduring the use of the raceway, serves to retain the latter firmly inposition. The operative is now free to operate his machine, the nailsgravitating downward in, and being taken from the said raceway first tofill the said feeding barrel, from which they are discharged in numberrequisite for any single heel, into and through the distributing tubes,from which they are discharged into the carrier. This carrier is swungat desired times in position over and to deliver its nails to the nailblock, from which they are driven into and through the heel, in usualmanner. 1

The advantages of this construction are manifold and obvious. There israrely any interruption from the feeding of nails of any size or styledown a raceway; consequently, the liability of interruption of operationof heeling shoes at the highest speed of which the machine is capable,is reduced to a minimum.

In nailing heels upon shoes, it is frequently necessary to change thenails, because of the different styles of shoes as they come to themachine to be heeled. These shoes are ordinarily arranged upon racksthat hold thirty-six pair lots, and it is now customary to sort outthese racks, so as to allot, so far as possible, successive rackscarrying similar shoes requiring similar nails to one operative.Notwithstanding this, inconvenient and very frequent changes arenecessary, and, whenever a change is made with machines as at presentequipped with individual loading mechanisms, all the nails in the hopperof the mechanism must be removed and new ones deposited in placethereof. This is obviated by the arrangement described, because in thebasement or elsewhere, one loading machine may be employed constantly inloading nails of a given size, and raceways containing such nails willbe carried in stock, so that the operative receives only as manyraceways filled with the desired kind of nails as he thinks he willneed, and, if he is required to change before they are exhausted, theunexhausted raceways are returned again with the exhausted ones to theloading center, where they are renewed and again filled. Much of theoperatives time is therefore economized in this manner, as well as fromthe elimination of delays caused by the clogging of the loadingmechanism itself. Loading machines will by this arrangement beconcentrated at one spot where a competent attendant will supervisethem, and much fewer machines will do the work when so concentrated thanis possible when scattered over a long line of individual machines inthe heeling room.

In practice the raceways used will preferably be from three to four feetin length,,

and, while I prefer to employ straight raceways because of theirsimplicity and cheapness, and because without excessive weight andspace, they will receive as many nails as will ordinarily be requiredfor expeditious work, yet my invention is not limited in this respect,for said raceways may be of any desired length, shape or formation tocarry the largest possible quantity of nails in the smallest practicablespace.

Having described one embodiment of my invention what I claim and desireto secure by Letters Patent is,

1. The combination with a heel nailing machine of a detachable loadingand nail supplying raceway therefor, carrying loose nails in a singleuninterupted series and means abutting against the delivery end of saidraceway to receive the nails singly and to deliver the same in groups tosaid nailing machine.

2. The combination with a heel nailing machine and nail transferringmeans of a detachable raceway and a gravity support therefor down whichsaid raceway may gravitate into nail delivering position.

3. The combination with a heel nailing machine and nail transferringmeans of a detachable raceway and a gravity support therefor providedwith raceway supporting rollers.

4. The combination with a heeling machine of a detachable nail supplyingraceway therefor, and means carried on the delivery end of said racewayto engage the nail heads and control the delivery of nails therefrom.

5. The combination with a heeling machine of a detachable nail supplyingraceway therefor and means at both ends of said raceway to preventnormal escape of nails therefrom when the raceway is detached, saidmeans at the delivery end being constructed and arranged to facilitateseparation of the nails singly from the raceway when attached to theheeling machine.

6. In a heel nailing machine the combination of a readily removableraceway, and rotary nail removing means immediately adjacent the end ofthe raceway to receive a series of nails therefrom and retain said nailsfor delivery as a gang.

7 The combination with a heel nailing machine, of an independentremovable raceway having its delivery end constructed to cooperate withnail receiving means on the machine, and its other end constructed tocooperate with an automatic loading mech anism separate from themachine.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ERASTUS WVOODWARD.

Witnesses:

FREDERICK L. EMERY, GEO. H. EMERY.

